1841.
Journal of Occurrences.
589
come to our knowledge. It does not appear, from any thing that we have yet seen, what are the intentions of the leaders of the expedition regarding future operations. To move much further north, during the winter, must be nearly or quite impracticable; we can hardly suppose, however, that sir Hugh Gough and sir William Parker will remain inactive, while Hangchow and other large cities may be reached by the steamers. They have commenced a course of action, which, it is natural to suppose, they will deem it expedient to follow up vigorously, until either the Chinese come forward and conclude au honorable peace, or the queen's arms shall rule the country. The iron disposition, which has so long made this empire impenetrable to the foreigner, must soon end. It is not to be tolerated much longer by the spirit of the age; and its downfall both in China and Japan, must, and will, we apprehend, soon be witnessed. It does not appear that any Chinese officer had, up to the 25th, come forward to seek for peace.
And it remains to be seen, whether the son of heaven can treat on equal terms with the other potentates of the earth-- whether this proud supremacy will bend or break. To save the effu- sion of blood, and the evils of capturing cities, it has always seemed to us desirable that this question should be carried directly to the emperor in person.
person. It may be he does not yet understand correctly the object aimed at, nor fully comprehend how free intercourse may be allowed and his throne retained.
When one neighbor offends another, or commits depredations on his property, or injures the life or limbs of his people, whether the evils are done by the master himself or by his servants, the master is the one who ought to be remonstrated with, and compelled to make reparation and give securities for future good behavior. If the evil deeds were done by a servant or a son, either might be retained till the pleasure of the superior was known. But it would be highly im- proper to commence indiscriminate chastisement, until every means of reaching the master had failed. This supposed case is not perhaps perfectly analogous to the quarrel with the Chinese. Yet we think that direct access to the emperor ought to have been sought-and still ought to be sought. In the supposed case, if the offended neighbor should fall upon the outworks of the other, pull down his defenses, take possession of his barns and store-houses, to the great and irre- coverable loss of innocent persons-persons who were in noways answerable for the injury, and who could by no means influence the will of the master-such conduct would be harsh, and every disin- terested and right-minded person would deprecate such proceedings. Could we have any influence with the directors of the present expe- dition, we would urge them to carry this question directly home to the emperor: we would urge this as we have from the first urged it, because it seems to us the most proper manner to settle the diffi- culty, and the way too in which it can be done with the least injury` to the offending party, and with the least cost to the offended.
The sufferings and losses sustained already, by casualties and colli- sion on both sides, are neither few nor light. No man can foresee